Plastic fence post

ABSTRACT

A hollow plastic fence post has a detachable steel driving cap and a detachable decorative cap used after driving. Corrugations around the lower end prevent displacement of the post after driving and apertures through the walls permit attachment of wire or wood straps to which fence rails may be nailed.

Elite States Patent 1 1191 Loch et a1. 1March 13, 1973 54] PLASTIC FENCEPOST 3,464,671 9/1969 Thomas 5.....256/10 3,305,985 2/1967 Dean 256/47 X[76] lm'emors- Gemge 170d, 141 3,555,751 1/1971 Thorgusen ..52 155Alphonse Loch, 2, 51,382 12/1865 Ashdown eta1.. .,...173/132 x Tofleld,Alberta, both of Canada 427,815 5/1890 Wolf ..52 155 x 931,495 *8/1909Saunders ....52/155 X [22] 1970 1,130,076 3 1915 Eisenmengerm. ..173 1322 APPL 102 35 2,821,365 [/1958 Lach ....256/19 3,173,662 3/1965Millerbcrnd ..256/52 [52] US. Cl ..256/19, 256/47 Primary ExaminerDennisL. Taylor [51] Int. Cl. ..E04h 17/24 Att0rneyKent & Ade [58] Field ofSearch ..256/47, 48,19, 51,52,10;

52/155 [57] ABSTRACT f A ho110w plastic fence post has a detachablesteel [56] Re erences C'ted driving cap and a detachable decorative capused after UNITED STATES PAT d riving. Corrugations around thelgwer endprevent d1sp1acement of the post after dnvmg and apertures 760,5075/1904 Witt ..256/48 through the walls permit attachment of wire 01'wood Lake traps to fence rails may be nailed 1,925,488 9/1933 Kern...256/48 UX 3,001 ,765 9/1961 Shobert ..256/19 X 1 Claim, 4 DrawingFigures PLASTIC FENCE POST This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in fence posts, and is adapted to replace conventionalfence posts which are usually made of wood, concrete or steel.

All of these are relatively heavy, deteriorate rapidly and are expensiveto produce.

The present device is designed to be made from plastic and can be formedwith any exterior configuration desired.

It is designed to be hollow for light weight and economy of productionand a steel driving cap is provided to assist in the driving of the postwithin the ground without damaging same.

Once the post has been placed within the ground, the driving cap can beremoved and a decorative cap placed thereon. 7

Means are provided to attach wire fencing material or, alternatively,wooden stringers to which fence rails can be nailed or bolted.

The principal object and essence of the invention is therefore toprovide a hollow plastic fence post which is easily driven into theground and which, once in position, will not deteriorate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterherewithin described which can be made in any configuration and colordesired.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter herewithin described which issimple in construction,economical in manufacture, and otherwise well suited to the purpose forwhich it is designed.

With the considerations and inventive objects herein set forth in view,and such other or further purposes, advantages or novel features as maybecome apparent from consideration of this disclosure and specification,the present invention consists of the inventive concept which iscomprised, embodied, embraced, or included in the method, process,construction, composition, arrangement or combination of parts, or newuse of any of the foregoing, herein exemplified in one or more specificembodiments of such concept, reference being had to the accompanyingFigures in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one of the fence posts.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional elevation of the decorative cap.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of the upper endof the post with the steel driving cap in position.

FIG. 4 is an isometric exploded view of the post and driving cap.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

Proceeding therefore to describe the invention in detail, referencecharacter illustrates. the fence post which is extruded plastic havingwalls approximately A inch thick. Although the present drawingsillustrate a square cross sectional post, nevertheless it will beappreciated that other cross sectional configurations can be used.

The post consists of the main elongated body portion 11 having parallelsides and a tapered or pointed end' portion 12 formed integrally withthe main portion 11' and extending downwardly therefrom. as clearlyillustrated.

The lower end 13 and the pointed portion 12 are provided withcorrugations 13' on the exterior walls thereof extending peripherallyaround the walls and these corrugations assist in retaining the postwithin the ground once it has been driven therein.

In order to drive the post into the ground without damaging same, weprovide a steel driving cap collectively designated 14 which isremovably positioned on the upper end 15 of the post. This cap issubstantially square when viewed in plan and is provided with a pair ofspaced and parallel peripherally extending flanges l6 and 17 dependingfrom the underside of the cap and defining a groove 18 therebetween. Theupper edges 15 of the post are received within this groove with theflanges 16 and 17 upon either side of the walls of the upper end of thepost thus enabling the post to be driven downwardly without the wallssplitting under the impact.

Once the post is in position, the steel'driving cap is removed and adecorative cap collectively designated 19 is positioned on the upper endthus finishing off the post. This decorative cap is preferably formedfrom plastic but is similar in construction to the cap 14 inasmuch asspaced and parallel flanges 20 and 21 define a peripheral groove 22 intowhich the upper edges of the walls of the post fit with the flanges uponeither side thereof. A decorative finish in the form of a knob 23 or thelike may be provided on the cap.

I Spaced apertures 24 are formed in opposite side walls 25 of each postas illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4 and these apertures enable fencingmaterials to be secured thereto between adjacently situated posts.

If wire is being used, eyelets 26 can be engaged through convenientapertures and bolted by nuts 27 into position.

However reference character 32 illustrated the preferred method ofattaching a wire to the post. It comprises a bifurciated plasticfastener having two legs 33, a wire aperture 34 at the inner ends of thelegs and an enlargement 35 formed on the outer ends of the legs. Thewire strand 36 is placed in the aperture 34 and the fastener is driveninto one of the holes 24 in the post thus compressing the enlarged ends35 as they pass through the aperture which then expand after passingthrough the aperture or hole 24 in order to prevent disengagement of thefastener from the post.

Various modifications can be made within the scope of the inventiveconcept which is herein disclosed and/or claimed.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. The combination of a fence post comprising a vertically elongatedhollow body having an open upper end and a pointed lower end portionadapted for insertion in. the ground, said body being formed fromplastic material and being provided with a vertical row of circularapertures communicating with the hollow interior of the body, a plasticclosure cap removably positioned on and closing the open upper end ofsaid body, a fence wire, and a fastener for attaching said fence wire tosaid post body, said fastener comprising a head portion provided with atransverse bore having said fence wire extending therethrough, abifurcated cylindrical stem portion. integral with said head portiondefining a pair of legs which are normally spaced apart but areresiliently compressible toward each other, and outby engagement of theenlargements with the interior surface of the fence body when said legsare expanded by their inherent resiliency to their normally spaced apartposition.

k l i

1. The combination of a fence post comprising a vertically elongatedhollow body having an open upper end and a pointed lower end portionadapted for insertion in the ground, said body being formed from plasticmaterial and being provided with a vertical row of circular aperturescommunicating with the hollow interior of the body, a plastic closurecap removably positioned on and closing the open upper end of said body,a fence wire, and a fastener for attaching said fence wire to said postbody, said fastener comprising a head portion provided with a transversebore having said fence wire extending therethrough, a bifurcatedcylindrical stem portion integral with said head portion defining a pairof legs which are normally spaced apart but are resiliently compressibletoward each other, and outturned enlargements provided at the free endsof said legs, compression of said legs toward each other permitting saidenlargements to pass through one of said apertures in the post body andsaid bifurcated cylindrical stem portion to be retained in the circularaperture by engagement of the enlargements with the interior surface ofthe fence body when said legs are expanded by their inherent resiliencyto their normally spaced apart position.